Yankari buys agric produce of its host communities, empowers farmers

The management of Yankari Games Reserve in Bauchi has resolved to provide market for food items produced by farmers in the 18 host communities of the Reserve.

Sole Administrator of the Reserve, Engr Habu Mamman, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Bauchi.

He said that henceforth, Yankari would buy all its food items from the local farmers, so long as the items were available within the host communities.

According to him, the measure will assist in providing market for their produce, especially vegetables and fruits, which are perishable.
The Sole Administrator said the purchase of the items would be rotated between the 18 host communities.

He explained that apart from empowering the locals economically by providing ready market and thereby reducing losses, the measure would also relieve them of the cost of transporting their items to far away markets.

NAN reports that in the past few weeks, the state had been experiencing a glut in perishable food items, especially tomatoes, pepper and onion, making farmers to incur heavy losses.

Apart from the drastic fall in price as a result of excess supply, the harsh weather condition had made storage very challenging.

Meanwhile, some parents have called on the management of Yankari Game Reserve to provide Amusement Park at the Reserve for their children.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that at present, the only place of fun for children, apart from Games Viewing, was the Wikki Warm Spring.

“Sometimes I take my family to spend the weekend at Yankari. For the bigger kids, they take pleasure in swimming inside the Wikki spring but the smaller ones are too scared to join them.

“They are always spectators and that is too boring for them. If there is an Amusement Park, they will simply remain there and enjoy themselves,” said Aminu Usman, one of the parents.

He suggested that a section of the Wikki spring would be most suitable for the park as it would enable parents monitor their children from the vantage position of the spring.

Another parent, Mrs Amina Ahmed, said the park could be another added source of revenue for Yankari.

“Management of Yankari may decide to charge token from parents for the use of the park facilities, just as is being charged for the spring facilities.

“In this era of dwindling sources of revenue, no amount is too negligible. I will not be surprised if the park competes with the spring in generating revenue,” she said.